


Hail Mary, full of Grace

by mermaid



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst and Humor, Divorce, F/M, Family, M/M, POV Female Character, Pining, Same-Sex Marriage, Unconventional Families, Weddings, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-11
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-25 22:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaid/pseuds/mermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine if Jack McGarrett had sent Mary to live with her aunt in New Jersey. Then imagine Mary growing up and falling in love with a local cop, Danny Williams.</p><p>Now add to the mix a daughter named Grace, an amicable divorce, a move to Hawaii, and an invitation for Danny to join Steve's taskforce...and stand well back, because sparks are gonna <i>fly</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pairings: Mary / Danny, then Steve / Danny (no incest, no infidelity, and no overlap) and Mary / OMC.
> 
> Spoilers: minor ones, up to 1x18. Otherwise, this is an AU where Rachel never existed.
> 
> Rating and Warnings: PG-13 for language, mild sexual references, mild violence, and angst (but with a happy ending). Also, parts of this story are more like not!fic than a standard narrative.
> 
> Author's notes: I had a weird idea for an AU very late at night, people encouraged me to write it, and this is the result. Also, I apologize for the irreverent pun in the title – I just couldn't resist.

After their mother Linda died in a car crash, their father Jack sent Steve and Mary to the mainland.

Steve got shipped off to Grandma McGarrett's place, in the rural Midwest. She was very elderly by then, or so it seemed to his 15-year-old self, but she did her best to look after him. His grandmother spoke a lot about her husband, who was killed at Pearl Harbor, and how bravely their son Jack had served during Vietnam.

Her stories helped spur Steve to follow in their footsteps, and join the Navy. And to be honest, living so far inland made him feel marooned...trapped, even. At least Annapolis was by the ocean.

Mary, meanwhile, wound up with her mother's younger sister in the New Jersey suburbs. They'd only ever met a few times before, since flights between Hawaii and the East Coast were so expensive. Aunt Annie was a single woman in her early 40s and had no kids of her own, so it was a steep learning curve – one hell of a bumpy ride, to be honest.

But both of them had loved Linda, and swapping stories about her (Annie's memories of their shared childhood, Mary's memories of her own) helped them to cope. It took a long time, but they cried and laughed and healed together.

Still...Mary was a teenage girl, neglected by her workaholic father, bereaved of her wonderful mother, and ripped from her lifelong home. Things could have turned out pretty badly for her, if it wasn't for her aunt. Annie's support kept Mary from going off the rails – running away to the city, breaking the law, hitting the bottle, all that kind of stuff.

She stayed in Jersey and graduated from high school with decent grades, but didn't feel like college was for her. Unsure of what to do with her life, Mary worked retail for a few years. Then, bored by the daily grind, she decided to take a bartending course at night school.

And to her surprise, it turned out she was really good at bar work. Mary had a knack for creating drinks, she never cracked under the pressure of happy hour or game night, and she could even do those fancy tricks like Tom Cruise in _Cocktail_.

As well as that technical stuff, she had a talent for the psychological aspect of bartending. Mary was a sympathetic listener, but could give patrons tough-love advice when needed – more than one wife had called to thank Mary for talking sense into her repentant husband. And she'd send regulars home, in a cab, before they reached tipping point.

***

It was while Mary was working in Weehawken that she crossed paths with a cop named Danny Williams.

Now, maybe the location for their fateful encounter was a great Irish pub in Danny's neighborhood, where he liked to have a couple of beers at the end of his shift. Or maybe it was a scuzzy dive in his patrol district, and Danny came in on official business: there was a massive brawl, or the bar's owner was crooked and got arrested.

...whatever. The point is, as soon as Mary and Danny met, the sparks just _flew_. She was snarky and didn't take shit from anyone; he was talkative and funny. They both loved hard rock and Italian food and trashy sci-fi movies, but they argued about pretty much everything else.

It was a good thing they were both single at the time, because instant chemistry like that? Damn hard to deny.

To cut a long story short: they fell in love, Danny proposed, they got married, and Mary got pregnant. They moved to Newark, to be closer to her Aunt Annie and to his extended family, and got a little two-bedroom place. It wasn't much, but they were happy enough.

Once they found out they were having a girl, the great naming debate started. Mary wanted to name their baby after her mother, Linda, while Danny thought Grace would be the perfect choice. It was his grandmother's name, sure, but he also thought that greeting his pregnant wife by saying "Hail Mary, full of Grace" was fucking _hilarious_.

He soon stopped doing that, because Mary's usual tolerance of his wisecracks was severely diminished by morning sickness and swollen ankles. But the name stuck, somehow, and she really grew to like it.

Danny found himself reciting the Hail Mary for real, over and over, after she went into premature labor. And when his daughter was born healthy and beautiful, he thanked his Mary, the Virgin Mary, God, Jesus, and every saint he could remember.

So Grace Linda Williams came into the world, and was loved and treasured by both her parents. But gradually, Mary and Danny grew apart. It definitely didn't help that he clocked up long hours, while she was home alone with the baby. She was the daughter of a cop and she'd always known the risks of police work, but that didn't stop her worrying about her husband every day.

And once Grace was a few years older, Mary went back to bartending Friday and Saturday nights to help pay the bills. The money was a big help, but she and Danny got so out of sync that they barely had any quality time together. They argued more, and rarely laughed. It became harder and harder to remember why they'd fallen for each other in the first place.

They eventually separated when Grace was seven, figuring they weren't doing her any favors by sticking with a loveless, tension-filled marriage. It wasn't a spectacular explosion or anything; nobody cheated, nobody screamed, and nobody got kicked to the curb. They stayed friends, genuinely and not just for Grace's sake, but the romance was gone forever.

***

Mary got increasingly homesick after they split up, and there was less and less to keep her in Jersey. Being surrounded by Danny's family was no longer a positive, seeing as they blamed her for breaking his heart. And Annie was gone – she'd met a wonderful woman online, and after a two-year LDR had moved to Boston to be with her.

But it was her father's brutal murder and Steve's unexpected decision to stay in Hawaii afterwards that finally spurred Mary to go home. She'd seen her brother maybe a dozen times over the last two decades, mostly brief weekend trips while he was studying at Annapolis and later stationed in Virginia. She loved him, and deeply regretted all the years they'd lost. Mary didn't want Grace to grow up not knowing her awesome uncle.

For his part, Steve was delighted that his sister was coming back. Mary was almost the only family he had left, and he really wanted to be part of little Gracie's life as well. And their parents' house was too big just for him; Steve didn't believe in ghosts, but the place was filled with bittersweet memories that haunted him all the same.

Danny wasn't exactly overjoyed about Mary's plan, but agreed to go to Hawaii with her. Maybe Danny's mom never stopped chastising him for walking away from his marriage vows; maybe his brother Matt had already suffered a spectacular downfall, either arrested for massive fraud or escaping New York with the FBI on his tail. Whatever the reason, Danny left Jersey in a more optimistic frame of mind than anyone might have expected.

So a few months after Steve came home, Mary and Grace moved into the house with him and Danny rented a small apartment nearby.

Grace quickly adapted to her new surroundings, and seemed to blossom before their eyes. She started at public school, made friends, and Hawaiian and pidgin words soon peppered her vocabulary. She even learned to surf from Mamo, who'd taught her mother and uncle so long ago.

Mary took a lunchtime shift at Honolulu's oldest Irish pub, which didn't get so many tourists as other, flashier bars. She became a favorite of the daytime regulars, some of whom had known her father. Mary had only faded childhood memories of Jack, so hearing their stories was an educational experience: sometimes emotional, sometimes hilarious.

And Danny? He joined the Honolulu PD as a homicide detective, but had real trouble fitting in. Mary had prepared him for island life as best she could, and he attempted to follow – or at least respect – the Hawaiian way of doing things. Hell, he even quit wearing a tie to work.

But his partner Kaleo was openly hostile, calling him a "fucking haole" to his face, and the brass refused to reassign him. The rest of the squad hardly made Danny feel welcome, either. Although he tried to hide it from Mary and Grace, he was lonely and unhappy.

Steve had already established the Governor's Five-0 taskforce by then, getting his start by poaching Meka Hanamoa – the detective investigating Jack's murder – from HPD. Meka was still a young guy, but whip smart; he knew Oahu inside out, and he didn't treat Steve like an ignorant mainlander.

Then Steve took Chin Ho Kelly on for his considerable experience as a detective, ignoring the taint of his supposed corruption. And he added Chin's rookie cousin Kono Kalakaua to the team for her instincts, her fearlessness, and her fantastic right cross.

As Five-0 got busier, handling more and more cases, Danny was the obvious person for Steve to hire next. Mary had no objection; in fact, she was quite happy to have her brother and ex-husband team up, not least because they could look out for each other. The two of them said nothing against the idea, either, but both secretly had very mixed feelings about working together.

Because Steve always had a thing for Danny, and Danny always had a thing for Steve.

***

They'd met the week before Mary and Danny's wedding, nine years earlier, and had their own version of immediate, overwhelming attraction. Steve was bisexual but deeply closeted, what with DADT and all, so his heart sank when he saw how hot his sister's fiancé was. It got even worse as he realized that Danny was smart and funny and an all-round great guy. Steve cursed himself for being a terrible brother, and had a lot of cold showers.

Danny, though, had never really been interested in men. Well, okay, there were some teenage fantasies and some surreptitious locker room glances, but he considered himself straight. So he didn't initially understand this magnetic pull he was feeling.

When Danny dreamed about his fiancée's brother the night before the wedding, he freaked the fuck out – ashamed, confused, and afraid. He was polite to Steve on the day, but held back from that joking banter they'd started up within minutes of being introduced. And Danny breathed a sigh of relief when Steve left the wedding early to return to base.

Steve didn't come back to Jersey for nearly two years – his SEAL duties had kept him away, but so had his memories of his brother-in-law. When he showed up for Grace's first birthday, both he and Danny were privately dismayed to find that nothing had changed. The two of them were still drawn together, still clicking on every level, and it kept happening every time Steve visited.

Neither Danny nor Steve would ever have acted on it, of course, because they were honorable men who wouldn't betray Mary like that. Anyway, neither knew how the other felt.


	2. Chapter 2

When Danny joins Five-0, things are very awkward to begin with.

Steve and Danny's incredible, insane attraction is only getting stronger, because apparently God wants them to suffer for some reason. Privately, Danny attributes it to those semi-blasphemous wisecracks he made when Mary was pregnant. Mary might laugh at Danny's belated penitence, if she wasn't more likely to slap him for lusting after her brother.

Each of them is still convinced the other is straight, though. Danny has no gaydar to speak of, and Steve doesn't trust his. That subliminal _ping_ when Danny's around is pure wishful thinking, he tells himself firmly.

Gradually, the two of them fall back into that old easy pattern from when they first met: joking, arguing, and finishing each other's sentences. After just a few months, it feels like they've been best friends and partners forever.

They often swap notes on Grace's latest achievements, like the challenging waves she mastered while surfing with Steve at the weekend, or the long words she reeled off when Danny helped her practice for the class spelling bee. If Chin and Kono are around, they roll their eyes but listen patiently. Meka, meanwhile, counters their Grace stories with proud boasts about his little boy Billy.

Though they talk about almost everything under the sun, there are two topics that are explicitly off-limits: Steve's activities as a SEAL, and Danny's marriage to Mary. And, of course, they both pretend that there's no elephant in the room...or in the car, for that matter.

Steve and Danny spend most of every workday together, and quite a bit of their off-duty time too. As so many people before them have discovered, being that close to the unattainable object of your desire is simultaneously wonderful and unbearable. At times, they feel like they can't _stand_ it anymore.

Danny thinks about going back to HPD, because hating whatever partner he got assigned would be preferable to loving Steve and being unable to have him. He'd miss his teammates, but at least he could breathe more easily. Steve thinks about going back to active duty, and deploying to some war zone far away from his sister's ex. He could hand Five-0 over to the real detectives – they're better-qualified to run it, anyway.

Neither man can bring himself to leave, though.

In their darkest moments, each of them contemplates taking a risk and coming clean, on the off-chance that the other isn't as straight as he seems. They're both single, they aren't blood relatives, and they're no longer connected in any legal sense. Together they could handle any scandal that resulted.

But...even putting social stigma aside, Mary is still the center of their family life. Steve can't bear to hurt her, not when they've worked so hard to repair their sibling bond. And Danny still cares about her, as a friend and as his daughter's mother.

Yeah, and that's the other thing – the biggest obstacle of all, in the end. What the hell would it do to _Grace_ if her father and her uncle got together?

So the pining and angst continues for months, undeclared and unacknowledged.

***

It doesn't go entirely unseen, though.

Kono is the first person to notice what's building between Steve and Danny. Initially the two of them amuse her – there's a strong resemblance to her parents, whose main form of communication is bickering. Then she studies them more closely and realizes there's deeply-repressed, painfully intense emotion beneath the surface: far beyond friendship, and nothing at all like brotherly love.

Hawaiians are a little less uptight about this type of thing than most mainlanders, though. Local culture is fairly tolerant of homosexuality, and marriage between first cousins is legal (Kono used to dream of marrying Chin, but thankfully she grew out of that embarrassing teenage crush). And during her time in the surfing world, Kono has seen all kinds of unorthodox relationships.

So she's not that shocked by the thought of her boss and his ex-brother-in-law together.

Kono thinks of telling Chin, but decides against it. He's got enough on his plate, what with rekindling his relationship with Malia and adjusting to his newly-restored status with HPD. Occasionally she has a fit of conscience and thinks of telling Mary, who's become her friend. But since the guys don't seem likely to act on their feelings any time soon, Kono doesn't want to set off such a huge powder keg without good cause.

So Kono keeps her own counsel, and keeps a watching eye on Steve and Danny.

***

It takes Mary much longer – almost a year – to pick up on what's happening.

To be fair, she had absolutely no reason to suspect either of them was queer. Steve wasn't out to her, or to anyone in Hawaii, and Danny had never shown any interest in guys before. And seriously: how often does a woman witness her brother and ex-husband falling in love? It's not like there's a pamphlet for recognizing the signs or anything.

It's just an idle observation that does it, one Friday night that's like any other. Danny always comes to the house for dinner on Fridays, to give Grace some quality time with both her parents. If it isn't raining, Steve fires up the grill and they all sit outside to eat.

Tonight, full of good food and worn out from surfing, Grace has fallen asleep on Mary's shoulder. Mary leans back in their shared lounge chair, feeling pleasantly tired herself. Her eyes almost closed against the glare of the setting sun, she watches Danny and Steve talk in low voices across the lanai from her.

And then the light hits Danny's face just right, as he's listening to Steve speak, and Mary thinks: _10 years ago, Danny would look at me like that._

When the full implications of that thought kick in, Mary does not faint or start screaming. Her stints in some pretty rough bars mean she can keep her head in any crisis. Anyway, she doesn't want to wake her daughter.

Instead she just lies there, breathing steadily, and works through it in her mind.

So maybe Danny has a thing for Steve. Well, that's highly unexpected – and a little disturbing – but Mary can understand it. Steve is a fantastic guy, handsome too, and she could imagine wanting him herself if they weren't siblings.

Does Steve feel the same way about Danny, though? He guards his emotions more closely, and Mary can't read him nearly so well. She studies him carefully now, through her lowered lashes, and notices the way he grins in response to one of Danny's comments. He'd smiled just like that at Cath, last time she visited Hawaii.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's true romance, since Cath is more of a fuck-buddy than a serious girlfriend. But Mary hasn't ever seen that grin of Steve's directed at anyone else, and it's very different to the way he smiles at Grace or herself. So, at the very least, Steve loves Danny more than he loves his other friends and colleagues.

Despite her state of shock, some small part of Mary finds it funny that Danny apparently has a weakness for McGarretts, and that she and her brother might just have the same taste in men.

The next question Mary has to face is, are they actually together? That's the hardest one of all, because it'd hurt like hell to learn that they'd kept their relationship secret from her.

Tending bar in a noisy, crowded pub makes you good at reading body language: who wants another drink, who's desperate for company, and who's about to cause trouble. It also means you can pick up on flirting, directed at you (handy for increasing tips, annoying if it goes too far) or at another patron.

Applying those lessons now, here on the lanai of Mary's childhood home, is like having the scales fall from her eyes. There are strong flirtatious undercurrents to how Danny and Steve interact, and Mary is astonished that she's never noticed before.

At the moment, their bodies are angled together, knees touching, faces inches apart as they talk. And okay, they believe both Mary and Grace are asleep, so they're trying to be considerate.

Thinking back, though, she's seen them touch more than any other pair of supposedly straight guys. As a bartender, Mary has spent long hours watching married men drink to inhibition-lowering levels with their married best friends, so she has plenty of scope for comparison. Danny and Steve mirror each other all the time, too, which is a classic sign of sexual interest.

But...no.

Leaving aside the question of whether the two most important adults in her life would hook up behind her back, there's the _logistics_.

Steve sleeps in this house every night, except for when Cath's ship is in port or the team are running themselves ragged on an investigation. The floorboards are too creaky for Danny to be creeping in and out – even Grace can't tiptoe up the stairs soundlessly – and there's no easy way to climb the wall outside Steve's room.

Mary can't believe that they're conducting a torrid affair during work hours, either. Five-0 headquarters are far too small for them to sneak off unnoticed to a supply closet or the bathroom. And the team's solve rate wouldn't be nearly so impressive if its leader and his partner kept stopping during cases to have sex. There's no room in the backseat of Danny's Camaro, anyway.

Also? The military might have made Steve a good liar – thanks both to SEAL training and to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' – but Danny couldn't possibly hide such a huge secret. Mary _knows_ him, inside and out, and she would have recognized his tells. Danny may be ashamed of his thoughts about her brother, sure. But if he can still look Mary in the eye, then there's no way he's acted on them.

That leaves two scenarios, Mary decides, as she gently shakes Grace awake and quietly bids the guys goodnight. Either their feelings are mutual and have been acknowledged out loud, but they're not actually together...or they're mutually clueless, each pining away in solitary silence.

***

After that first realization, Mary does a lot of covert observation and a lot of thinking.

She sees Danny and Steve together at least once a week, and it becomes increasingly clear that no declarations have been made. It's evident in the longing on Danny's face, quickly masked when Steve turns from the grill to hand him a steak done just the way Danny likes it.

Steve is less obvious, but she catches him staring at Danny's ass while he and his daughter splash in the shallows at the beach. The heated gaze melts into an amused glance as Danny turns around to chase a giggling Grace out of the water.

So if neither of them has said anything about their feelings, does Mary want the situation to change?

Her honest, instinctive answer is: _no_. Mary is a liberal, tolerant woman, and she's absolutely fine with gay folks – Aunt Annie is a lesbian, after all. But the thought of these two particular men as a couple really bothers her. She doesn't want to picture it, she doesn't want to see it unfold...she doesn't want this goddamn soap opera to be her life. It's just not fair.

The possibility that Danny and Steve might have felt this way for a long time – since before the divorce, or even since they met 10 years ago – eats at her too. She's trying not to dwell on that, though, because Christ knows you can't control who you fall for. Mary sure as hell wouldn't have consciously chosen a cop, not after growing up as the daughter of one.

Still, she can't help wondering if Danny's illicit attraction to her brother was simmering under the surface of their marriage all along...and maybe contributed to its eventual failure. And Steve hadn't visited much, those last few years they were in Jersey. Did Grace miss out on precious time with her uncle because he couldn't handle seeing Danny?

Mary wishes she'd never figured this whole thing out. Only in hindsight can you appreciate how blissful your ignorance truly was, before harsh reality stepped up to slap you in the face.

All these thoughts keep swirling around her head, though she does her best to act normal around Grace and the guys. Mary considers going to a therapist to help her sort it out – seeing one as a bereaved, uprooted teenager had been very useful – but doesn't like the idea of spilling other people's secrets to a stranger. And while there are probably self-help books for women whose ex-husbands come out, said ex-husbands probably aren't gay for their wife's brother.

So one Sunday, when Danny and Steve have taken Grace up to the North Shore, Mary calls her aunt in Boston and tells her everything.

Once Annie gets over her surprise, she says, "You're very good at looking after other people, Mary, but you're allowed to put yourself first. If you can't bear the idea of Steve and Danny in a relationship, if it will cause you pain to see them together, then you're not obliged to say or do anything to encourage them."

"I don't know if it'll cause me pain," Mary says. "It hurts right now, but I'm feeling so many different things it's hard to tell."

"Sweetheart, you're overloaded and you're in shock. Give yourself time to adjust, okay? Once things look clearer, you can figure out how to balance your priorities: your emotional wellbeing, and Grace's too, versus the romantic happiness of Steve and Danny."

Annie pauses, then adds, "And if there's a chance for all of you to come out of this better off, seize it with both hands and to hell with what anyone else thinks."

***

After that conversation, Mary decides to allow herself two weeks to acknowledge and process her feelings: to be angry and appalled, to feel resentful and betrayed...and then to forgive, and to look at the situation again with an open mind.

Because when it comes down to it, Danny and Steve are consenting adults and free agents. And Mary loves them both, and she wants them to be happy. Right now, however much they try to hide it, they're _miserable_.

Mary doesn't flatter herself that they're suffering for her sake alone, though. Both men adore Grace, would die to protect her, and would hate to hurt her in any way. And if it came down to it, Mary wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice their happiness for her daughter's wellbeing.

But Grace is old enough to be consulted about this, and it's worth testing the waters.

So one Friday afternoon, a month after Mary first saw what was happening, she sits Grace down and says, "You know how Steve and Danno are best friends?"

Grace nods, and Mary continues, "Well, what if they became a couple, like Danno and I used to be a couple?"

This is a lot for even a smart nine-year-old to take in, and quite a twist to their family tree. Grace screws up her face in confusion. "Why would they want to?"

"Because they love each other, I think," Mary says simply.

"So does that mean Danno's gay, now? And Uncle Steve too?"

It's a valid question, and Mary considers it carefully. "I don't know if you could call them gay. 'Bisexual' might be the right term, because both of them like women too. But love is love, sweetheart, however you label it."

Grace looks thoughtful, but not upset, so Mary goes on.

"I'm pretty sure Danno and Steve are in love, but they're not a couple yet. So how would you feel if they got together? If they kissed each other, or shared a bedroom, or even got married someday?"

After opening her mouth, then closing it again, Grace says slowly, "I don't know."

"Take some time to think about it," Mary suggests, "and let me know when you're ready."

Grace goes out to the tree-house Danny and Steve had built for her in the back yard, and stays up there for an hour.

"Yeah, okay," she tells Mary when she comes back down. "It's all right with me if they're in love and get together."

Mary hugs her, so pleased that they've raised an open-minded, kind-hearted kid. "That's such a nice thing for you to say, Gracie – thank you. But some other people will say nasty things, to your dad and your uncle and maybe to you as well...kids at school might be mean, too. It could be rough for all of us, for a while. Would your answer still be yes?"

This time, the answer comes after only a moment's thought. "Can I punch people if they're mean?"

"Probably not," Mary says, since she knows Grace can throw a punch better than many grown women. "You'd get in trouble with your teachers if you hit other kids, anyway."

Grace looks disappointed, but then her expression turns serious. "Danno's been sad for a while," she says. "So if kissing Uncle Steve will make him feel better, I don't care what people say."

Mary blinks back tears. "That's what I think too, sweetheart. And whatever happens, none of us will ever stop loving you."

The look Grace gives her in reply suggests she never doubted it.

"Now: how would you feel if the two of them got together real soon? Like...maybe tonight? Because I think they've both been sad for a long time, and it'd be good to cheer them up."

Grace agrees, and they start to make a plan.

***

When Steve comes out onto the lanai that night, bringing Danny and steaks and beer as usual, they find Grace and Mary waiting.

"Hey, guys, we need to talk. Sit down," Mary says.

Wearing identical looks of concern and confusion, Danny and Steve take their usual chairs.

Since Mary's never been in favor of beating around the bush, she gets right to it. "So I've recently figured out that you're head-over-heels in love with each other."

Steve leans forward, opening his mouth to speak. But when Mary says, "No, hear me out first," he sits back, his hands tightly clasped and his face rapidly draining of color. Danny is frozen in place beside him, motionless and speechless in a way that Mary has rarely seen.

She doesn't need to ask for confirmations or confessions. The truth is written all over them.

"It was a shock, to say the least, but I've had some time to adjust to the idea now," Mary continues. "I'm guessing that you've held back for Grace's sake, and for mine too. Well, if you want to get together, you have my blessing. The four of us will still be a family, no matter what – just a very unorthodox one, maybe."

The guys are alternating between gaping at Mary like goldfish, and shooting glances at each other.

Grace has been listening with great interest. Now she declares, "If you love each other, I think you should be happy. Just don't kiss in front of me, okay? Kissing is _gross_."

She hugs her father, then her uncle, murmuring something to each of them, and walks into the house. Danny and Steve both look stunned, still, but increasingly hopeful too.

Mary tells them, "That goes for me too, by the way. Some discretion when I'm around, that's all I ask. Anyway: we're going to stay at Kono's place tonight, so you'll have the house to yourselves. The rest is up to you, guys."

She kisses her brother's cheek, and he says, "I'm sorry, Mary...I tried so hard not to, but I just couldn't help it." Mary nods and holds Steve tight, feeling his body tremble with long-suppressed emotion.

She kisses her ex-husband's cheek, and he says, "I didn't think I could ever have this; I thought it would ruin everything. Thank you so much, babe." Mary touches her forehead to Danny's, the way she always used to, and they breathe together for a moment.

Then Mary follows their daughter inside. She pulls the lanai door shut behind her, and doesn't look back as she bustles around getting ready to leave. But as she's shepherding Grace out of the house, Mary can't help glancing in their direction.

They are embracing now, bodies so close together that she can't see any light between them. Danny's face is pressed against Steve's neck, and Steve's cheek is resting on Danny's hair. They're backlit by the setting sun, so Mary can't see their expressions. That's probably for the best...some things are meant to be private.

There are tears in Mary's eyes, but surprisingly she's feeling more joy and relief than pain. That doesn't mean there won't be tough times ahead; maybe the sight of them together will always be a little bittersweet. But she knows she's done the right thing.

Mary closes the front door, takes Grace's hand, and walks out to the car.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary sees little visible change to Danny and Steve's relationship; they respect her wishes, and never kiss or act in any sexual way when she's around. Privately, it amuses her that the guys still touch – and unconsciously mirror each other's body language – almost as much as they did back in the bad old days of denial. They just can't help being magnetically drawn to each other, it seems.

But a deep, radiating contentment has now replaced that suppressed anxiety and sadness it had taken Mary so long to recognize. Anyone meeting them for the first time would assume they've been together for _years_.

...anyone who hasn't heard the gossip, that is, because there's a minor scandal once Danny and Steve's relationship becomes public knowledge. It was to be expected, since it's a pretty weird situation and they're high-profile people. But Steve ignores it stoically, Danny clenches his fists and scowls at people, Mary corrects anyone who condemns their "terrible betrayal" of her, and they all try to shield Grace as best they can.

Some teasing does occur at school, of course, because kids are like that. Grace is a Williams and a McGarrett, though, so she quells most of it with withering glares and sharp words.

Only the worst offender, Tommy, gets punched in the face when he just won't quit harassing her. But none of the spectators rat Grace out for it – they're all too impressed, or intimidated, by her ability to make a habitual bully cry.

"My auntie Kono taught me that one...it's called a right cross," Grace tells the watching kids once Tommy has fled in shock. She then offers to show the other girls how to land a decent punch.

When Grace relates the story that evening, Mary gives her the mandatory "Violence must be a last resort" speech. Inwardly, though, she's damn proud of her daughter. Mary then makes sure she's present when Grace tells the guys about her altercation with Tommy, so they're obliged to tone down their effusive praise (Danny) and limit their advice regarding future engagements with the enemy (Steve).

The only enemies Steve himself will face in future are the criminal kind. The Pentagon's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy has already been repealed, but Steve decides to resign his commission anyway. "I've been in the Navy half my life, now," Steve tells Mary, "and my future lies here in Hawaii."

She's delighted by the news. As a reservist, he could have been called to active duty at any time. And given his skills and experience, any mission requiring his participation would have been highly dangerous. The next time they're all together, Mary notices that Danny also seems more relaxed. The prospect of Steve being mobilized must have been weighing on his mind too. They can both be thankful that Steve got out of the military alive, and relatively unscathed.

***

Mary keeps the McGarrett family house, because it's Grace's home and she's already endured enough upheaval in her short life. The guys buy a nice two-bedroom place nearby, but Friday night dinners at Mary's remain a tradition.

She remains their daughter's primary caregiver, too, since Danny and Steve have to work long and unpredictable hours. Mary's daytime shift at the pub means she can take Grace to her after-school activities, supervise her homework, and fix her dinner.

Still, the guys do their damnedest to make it to Grace's special events, such as class plays (she's inherited Danny's theatricality) and martial arts competitions (she's short, like both her parents, but strong and _fast_ ). And Danny has custody every Saturday, as well as one or two nights during the week.

It gives Mary a chance to have a social life, though she doesn't date all that much. She often gets propositioned by bar patrons, of course, but few of them are as appealing as they seem to think. There are other men willing to date a single mom, even one with such a weird family situation. But she judges hardly any of them as worthy of being introduced to Grace.

So Mary mostly has short-term fun here and there, staving off the occasional bout of loneliness or just scratching an itch. She does hope to fall in love again, someday. In the meantime, she's pretty happy with her life.

The other members of Five-0 – who are becoming more like _'ohana_ than friends – pitch in to help Mary out. Kono takes Grace surfing, and spars with her to hone her martial arts skills, while Chin's the person Mary calls when she has computer problems or engine trouble.

When Steve lived at the house, he'd always insist on trying to fix Mary's car. But for all his good intentions, he's no mechanic...their dad's Mercury Marquis remains a permanent work in progress. At least it's now kept at Danny and Steve's place, so Mary can finally use her garage.

Chin's partner Malia is a doctor, and she provides excellent advice when it's time to tell Grace about puberty and sex. Mary remembers her mom having real trouble talking about that stuff; Aunt Annie had to fill in some critical gaps when Mary arrived in Jersey as a teenager. So she's determined that Grace will never suffer from that kind of potentially dangerous ignorance.

Meka's wife Amy has become Mary's closest girlfriend, and she minds Grace one afternoon a week while Mary runs errands. Her son Billy is slightly younger than Grace, but they get along great. The two of them often play at being cops, either chasing each other around or convincing some neighborhood kid to act as the bad guy and endure an enthusiastic arrest.

Hilariously, or disturbingly, Grace has the Miranda warning memorized before Steve does. Mary can't say she'd be _pleased_ if her daughter became the third generation of their family to work in law enforcement. But she won't stand in the way.

***

It takes another half-decade, but Hawaii's politicians finally legalize same-sex marriage. Mary doesn't ask whether Steve – as the openly queer head of the Governor's highly popular taskforce – helped make it happen, though she suspects he was lobbying behind the scenes.

But she does know that Steve proposed to Danny within seconds of the late-night state legislature vote, even before the law change was publicly announced. And soon everyone knows that, because they make the news as the first gay couple to get engaged in Hawaii. Steve was always so _competitive_ , Mary thinks wryly, but she congratulates them both with genuine joy.

So, six years after getting together, Danny and Steve are getting hitched.

Mary owns the Irish pub now, having taken it over when her boss retired, and she lets the guys use it for their bachelor night the weekend before the wedding. Chin and Meka organize the party; Mary helps them set everything up, then runs like hell. She _really_ doesn't want to be there when Danny and Steve are confronted with male strippers in police uniforms.

Instead, Mary spends the evening with Grace, Kono, Malia and Amy, eating pizza and watching trashy '80s movies. It's a nostalgia trip for Mary and her friends, and a sometimes cringe-inducing education for her 15-year-old daughter.

Grace is to be the bridesmaid, of course, wearing a blue dress she chose herself. She dismays the wedding planner by deciding, on a whim, to cut off her beautiful long hair a few days before the ceremony. But Mary shapes Grace's hack job into a cute pixie cut, and the florist designs a wreath of fresh tropical blooms to be held in place by bobby pins.

Though she used to be small for her age, Grace is now several inches taller than her mom...and has recently edged past her dad too, which is perturbing to Danny but at least some consolation to Mary. Grace must have inherited the height genes enjoyed by her six-foot uncles, Steve and Matt.

But in personality terms Grace is clearly a mix of Mary and Danny, with a strong dash of Steve's influence plus some traits all of her own. She can be exhausting company sometimes, with such energy, determination, and intelligence – and _so_ much to say for herself. It's fascinating for Mary to watch her grow up, though, and to wonder what she'll do with her life.

Having Grace as part of the wedding party was a no-brainer. And following some heated discussion, the guys came to a compromise about the rest of the ceremony.

Steve managed to beat Danny to proposing, thanks to what Danny calls his "unfair home advantage": one of the state senators, an old friend from Kukui High, texted Steve the moment the 'aye' votes got the required majority. So Danny claimed the right to occupy the traditional groom's position, standing beside the celebrant and waiting for the music to swell.

To Mary's surprise, Steve then asked her to walk him down the aisle – as his closest living relative, and as a public gesture of her goodwill. It's an amusing role reversal, too, because Steve escorted Mary to the altar when _she_ married Danny.

Sure, it's unorthodox, but what about their family isn't?

***

So on the day, Mary gives her brother away to her ex-husband with a wink and a smile. Danny gives her a slight bow, hand over his heart. Then his gaze shifts to Steve, and Mary and all the other onlookers seem to fade into insignificance for him.

Once the celebrant declares Danny and Steve married, the kiss that ensues is the most intimacy Mary has ever witnessed between the two of them. But by then, it doesn't hurt her to see it at all. In fact, the only person who claps and hollers louder than Mary is Grace.

They hold the reception at Mary's house, since Danny and Steve's place is too small. Kamekona, friend and sometime C.I. to the Five-0 team, does the catering and serves up a fabulous buffet. Mary, who provided the alcohol at wholesale rates, mixes drinks for the adults and invents colorful mocktails for the underage guests.

It's a beautiful day, so people spill out onto the lanai, lawns, and beach. A bunch of kids are splashing around in the water, under Kono's watchful eye. Meka turns out to have a real talent for magic tricks, so he and his lovely assistant Amy entertain the children on shore.

Patient, respectful Chin puts himself in charge of looking after and listening to the older folks. Mary takes a break from the bar and sits down next to Mamo for a while, hearing stories about the good old days of Waikiki Beach and how he and his friends used to surf with Duke Kahanamoku.

Danny's parents turned down their wedding invitations – they're not exactly thrilled about him marrying a man, let alone his ex-wife's brother – and Matt is in jail. But Danny's two sisters flew in from Jersey, and brought their kids too. Grace is having a great time with the cousins she hasn't seen in so long, and Mary's glad; they're a little short of relatives on the McGarrett side of the family.

Because the guys are apparently masochists, they ask Mary to make a speech after dinner. She keeps it pretty tame, what with all the children around, but can't resist closing with a couple of helpful suggestions.

"You know, Danny's full legal name should now be Daniel Joseph Williams-McGarrett-McGarrett," she says. "And I figure the McGarrett family motto should now be: 'We're so nice, he married us twice!'"

This makes Steve choke with laughter, along with Grace and most of the guests, but doesn't amuse Danny quite so much. Mary just smiles sweetly at him, and proposes a toast to the groom and groom.

Later in the evening, Danny comes inside to find her. Mary's practiced eye tells her he's tipsy but not too drunk; his eyes are bright, and she suspects his face hurts from grinning so much.

They lean against the living room wall, side by side, and watch Steve valiantly attempting to dance with their rather more coordinated daughter. Then Danny tells Mary, "I know how much you hated me saying it, back when you were pregnant, but you really are full of grace."

Mary blinks at him, puzzled, and he explains, "If you hadn't been so kind and generous, Steve and I probably would've gone crazy trying to fight how we felt. We could never have got here without your help, Mary."

She smiles, and rests her head on his tuxedo-clad shoulder for a while. Then she gently elbows him in the ribs and says, "Go rescue your husband, babe...I think Gracie is wearing him out. And get going on your honeymoon already, while the night is still young."

***

To Mary's delight, Annie and her wife Theresa traveled from Boston for the wedding. It's the first time Mary's seen her aunt in years, though they've remained in close contact. They make a pilgrimage to Linda's grave, which Annie has never seen, and toast their beloved sister and mother with top-shelf Scotch.

The two older women had another motive for visiting Hawaii at last, since Theresa's son Sean has recently moved here. A week after the wedding, Annie and Theresa take Mary out to lunch and invite Sean along too.

And although there's no thunderbolt from a clear sky, Sean and Mary hit it off really well. That first lunch turns into mid-week coffees, then dinners, and eventually more.

Sean is quite different to Danny...less loud and more serious, but with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He's a physiotherapist, working at the Army hospital in Honolulu. They talk about the ways in which they act as a counselor, Mary to her patrons and Sean to his patients. Though they each have to deal with sad and damaged people, there are funny stories to tell as well.

They've both been through tough times – Sean's long-term girlfriend died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition, four years ago – and have come out the other side wiser and more cautious. So Mary and Sean take things _very_ gradually, and they date for several months before she introduces him to her family.

Grace is polite and friendly, but guarded. What with Danny and Steve getting together and Mary not having had any serious partners since the divorce, Grace has never had to cope with an outsider being added to the family. And she's over-supplied with father figures already, Christ knows.

Sean doesn't have much experience with teenagers, but he's smart enough not to expect immediate acceptance from Grace. He treats her with respect and doesn't react when she acts out – as even the best-behaved kids do, occasionally. Sean tells Mary he's developed a thick skin from having angry, hurting patients fling personal insults (and sometimes projectiles) at him during physio sessions.

Danny and Steve are another tough audience, and meeting them can be a nerve-wracking experience for the men Mary dates. The two most important adults in her life are infamous, and quite intimidating: even when unarmed, Steve can exude a sense of menace and Danny's personality can fill a room. And they're both inclined to be needlessly protective of her.

But things turn out well when Mary and Sean go out to dinner with them. For a start, Steve greatly respects Sean's dedication to rehabbing injured personnel. They soon get talking about the Army's Wounded Warrior Program, and how well it functions compared to the Navy equivalent.

After a while it gets too technical for Danny and Mary, who have a quiet side-conversation about Grace having asked Billy Hanamoa to their high school's formal. Mary and Amy have been wondering for years if that childhood friendship would blossom into something more, and now it seems it just might.

The dance is on a Saturday, Grace's usual night at Danny's place. He agrees that Mary should come over to help her get ready, and take an embarrassing number of photos before the young couple escape.

Billy has grown up with Danny and Steve as honorary uncles, so he's not scared of them. Mary imagines that anyone else their daughter ever dates will find that initial encounter far more daunting. But to be honest, any potential suitor would need to be pretty strong and confident to keep up with Grace in the first place.

To Mary's surprise, Danny and Sean also take to each other. It helps that they had a similar upbringing, as East Coast working-class Catholics. Get enough free drinks into the two of them, Mary discovers later that night at her pub, and they'll start singing traditional Irish songs at full volume. She joins in on the chorus of 'Danny Boy'; Steve sits back in the booth and watches them with a grin.

Danny and Steve's easy rapport with Sean helps Grace adjust to the new presence in her life. The ultimate sign of her acceptance comes a year into Mary and Sean's relationship, when Grace offers to teach him how to surf.

Maybe it's not the wild crazy passion Mary once felt for Danny, but with Sean she has love, respect, laughter, shared values...and a measure of well-earned peace and quiet. And in the end, Mary's happy.

***

END.


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